Electric-sign letter.



F. H. LANSDELL.

BLEGTBIU'SIGN LETTER.

APPLICATION rum) NOV. 20, 1909.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE Nosms PETERS cm, wAsm-vcrou, D. c

F. H. LANSDELL. ELECTRIC SIGN LETTER. APPLICATION IILED NOV. 20, 1909Patented 0ct.18,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FREDERICK HURST LANSDELL, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

ELECTRIG-SIGN LETTER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK HURST LANSDELL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State ofGeorgia, have invented a new and useful Electric-Sign Letter, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to an electric sign letter and has for itsprincipal object to pro vide an embossed letter which has its facestudded with electric lamp bulbs, the letter being so designed and thebulbs so arranged that a sign composed of such letters can be clearlyread from a great distance and at a comparatively great angle, and, infact, almost parallel with the sign without blurring or running theletters together, due to an excessive emission of light rays, since theglare of the lamps is subdued in order to prevent blurring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction ofletter and panel on which the letter is mounted by means of the lampsockets which form the sole c011- necting means between the letter andits panel, the wiring for the lamps being arranged in the panel which ischambered so that a practically weatherproof housing for the lampconnections is provided and one which can be readily opened for thepurpose of repairing or changing the letter.

With these and other objects in View, as will appear as the descriptionproceeds, the invention comprises the various novel features ofconstruction and arrangement of parts which will be more fully describedhereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appendedhereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of theinvention, Figure l is a perspective view of a character unit of a sign.Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken through the character in a planeparallel with the face of the sign, the lamps being removed to show thela1np-receiving sockets or receptacles therefor. Fig. 3 is a verticalsection on line 33, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line P4, Fig.2, drawn on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 is a rear view of the panel of thecharacter unit, the back plate being removed.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate correspondingparts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawings, A designates Specification of Letters Patent.Application filed November 20, 1909.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910. Serial No. 529,146.

the panel or base of the character unit, and

B the letter, figure or other character which is secured to and standsoutwardly from the front plate 1 of the panel, the character in thepresent instance representing the letter A sign composed of a number ofcharacter units of this form can be read distinctly from a greatdistance by day since the letters are of the embossed type; that is tosay, raised from the face of the sign or front plates of the panels.Each character is made of sheet metal of suitable gage and composed of aface 2, back 3, and side walls 4, whereby a chambered or b0x-likestructure is produced. The front plate or face 2 of the character hasspaced openings 5 through which protrude the outer portions of lampbulbs 6 which have their outer ends preferably frosted so that the raysof light will be diffused and glare prevented. The openings are somewhatlarger than the diameters of the bulbs so that annular lightemittingspaces 7 are provided around the lamps which assist materially inpreserving the continuity of the letter should any lamp burn out, itbeing understood that the rays of light emitted from the portions of thelamps within the letter will be transmitted by reflection from the metalinterior surfaces of the character.

The face of the character between adjacent openings is provided withsmall perforations 8 through which light is transmitted from theinterior of the letter to assist in giving outline to the letter withoutdirect rays of light being emitted, it being understood that direct raysare objectionable since they cause blurring, especially when the sign isobserved at a great angle from a distant point. The side walls of theletter, meaning thereby the top and bottom walls as well, are providedwith ventilating perforations 9, and extending around the interior ofthe letter in proximity to the perforated side walls is a continuousbaflie 10 that follows the outline of the character, as clearly shown inFig. 2. This baffle is made of a metal strip carried by the front plateor face 2 of the letter, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, and extending intoclose proximity to the back of the letter, whereby a free circulation ofair through the character is provided. This baffle or deflector 10serves to reflect the laterally emitted rays from the lamps to causelight to be transmitted through the perforations in the front plate andthe annular openings surrounding the lamp bulbs. It also serves toprevent light from being emltted through the perforations 9, allows fora circulation of air, and deflects the heat so as to protect the paintor enamel on the letter.

The panel A is a box-like structure of any desired construction, thefront of which is formed by the plate 1. This plate is provided withopenings 11 with which register openings 12 in the back plate 8 of thecharacter, and through these registering openings extend the lampsockets or receptacles 13 that form the sole connecting means betweenthe character and panel. These sockets are made in two parts a and b, asclearly shown in Fig. 4:, the part a being the plug and the part b asocket, and the plug passing through the openings in the front plate .ofthe panel and back plate of the character and fitting in the part I) sothat the plates will be clamped against the spaced shoulders 14 formedby the two parts. The lamps are screwed in the parts a of thereceptacles 13 and the terminals of the sockets are connected withcircuit wires 15 arranged as shown in Fig. 5, said wires leading intothe panel through a bushing 16 at one side. It will thus be seen thatthe circuit connections are arranged wholly within the box-like panel sothat repair or inspection can be readily made from the rear of the signwithout having to take the letter apart, and furthermore the parts ofthe sockets can be unfastened when the letter is to be removed from thepanel. The circuit connections are housed in a weatherproof case so thatvery little at tention will be required, it being merely necessary tosubstitute new lamp bulbs as the filaments burn out. Even if thefilament of a lamp should burn out, it does not destroy thecontinuity ofthe letter because light can be emitted from the interior of the letterthrough the perforated face of the letter surrounding that lamp which isburned out, the interior of the letter being illuminated by the siderays from the other lamps.

A studded letter electric sign of this char acter has the advantage ofextreme simplicity and the individual letters can be distinctlydiscersed at a great angle and almost parallel with the sign and at agreater distance therefrom than the other electric sign letters of thesame size where the light is directly emitted, since the sign is blurredand the letters run together. The incandescent bulbs partially protrudethrough the surface of the raised flush face characters and the siderays from the lamps are reflected through the perforations and openingsin the face of the letters to carry out the complete outline of theletter. The lamps are sunken through the faces of the letters far enoughto prevent the excess light from causing the same to blur and at thesame time permit enough of each lamp to project through the face toprovide a studded embossed effect.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of themethod of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the artto which the invention appertains, and while I have described theprinciple of operation of the invention, together with the apparatuswhich I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to haveit understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative, and thatsuch changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of theclaims appended hereto.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A sign character comprising a support, a hollow character mountedthereon and having its face provided with openings and closely arrangedapertures between adjacent openings, and lamps secured in the characterwith portions protruding out of the openin s, said openings being largerin diameter than the protruding portions of the lamps to leave annularspaces around the lamps.

2. A sign character comprising a supporting panel, a hollow charactersecured to the panel and arranged in outstanding relation therefrom,said character consisting of a front plate and marginal or side walls,said front plate having lamp openings, lamps in the character partiallyprojecting through the openings, said side walls having ventilatingapertures, and a battle arranged in the character and extending alongthe side walls thereof in spaced relation to the ventilating apertures.

3. A sign character comprising a hollow structure consisting of front,back and side walls, said front wall having openings and side wallshaving ventilating apertures,

lamps in the character partially protruding through the openings, and abattle carried by the front wall within the character and extendingalong the side walls in spaced re lation thereto and spaced from theback wall whereby a ventilating space is provided entirely around thecharacter.

4. A sign character comprising a panel including a plate having openingsa hollow character having a back plate provided with openingsregistering with those of the panel plate, lamp sockets each made in twoparts comprising a plug having a tapered portion which is passed throughthe openings of the panel plate and back plate and is provided with ashoulder to rest on the back plate, and a socket having a shoulder tobear against the panel plate-and a recess to receive the tapered portionof the plug,

the plug being hollow and the interior bulb, whereby the lamp socketsform the sole connecting means between the character and the panel, andlamp bulbs screwing into the hollow plug.

A sign character comprising a panel including a plate having openings, ahollow character applied to the panel and consisting of a front and sideWalls, said front Wall having its face provided With openings andclosely arranged small apertures between adjacent openings, and saidside Walls wall I having ventilating openings, thereof being threaded toreceive the lamp lamps arranged Within the character at the openings 15in the front Wall, and a baffle arranged Within the character andextending along the side Walls in spaced relation thereto and alsospaced from the panel.

In testimony, as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in thepresence of two Witnesses.

FREDERICK HURST LANSDELL.

Vitnesses C. E. CURRIER, G120. P. DONOVAN.

that I claim the foregoing 20

